February 2014 Folk Song

The Ambleside Online Folk Song Rotation has "Wade in the Water" selected as the song for February, 2014. 

(Chorus)  
Wade in the water.  
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.  
God's gonna trouble the water.

Well, who are these children all dressed in red?  
God's a-gonna trouble the water  
Must be the children that Moses led  
God's a-gonna trouble the water.
 

Chorus
 

Who's that young girl dressed in white 
Wade in the Water
Must be the Children of Israelites  
God's gonna trouble the Water.
 

Chorus
 

Jordan's water is chilly and cold.  
God's gonna trouble the water.
 It chills the body, but not the soul.  
God's gonna trouble the water.
 

Chorus
 

If you get there before I do.  
God's gonna trouble the water.
Tell all of my friends I'm coming too.
God's gonna trouble the water.
 

Chorus
  
 

2/2/14 - Ground Hog Day Menu Plan

I have been wanting to order Trim, Healthy Mama for a long time now. Well, I finally ordered it... I think it was on Thursday. So now I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. Mail already came today, and it was not in the mailbox, so waiting another day. In the meantime, here are the plans I made for dinners for this week.

SUNDAY (1/26)

Steak, salad, baked potatoes

MONDAY (1/27)

Mushroom Ravioli, Salad, garlic bread

TUESDAY (1/28)

Roast chicken, rice, broccoli

WEDNESDAY (1/29)

baked beans/hot dog casserole, cole slaw

THURSDAY (1/30)

Chili, salad, corn bread

FRIDAY (1/31)

French Bread Pizza, salad

SATURDAY (2/1)

Dinner plans out (going to someone's house)

 

February 2014 Hymn Study

The Ambleside Online Hymn Rotation has planned, for February 2014, that we introduce to our kids, "Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah":

Or this version, which is easier to sing with but which does not have the lyrics on the screen (but I really like it a lot!):

Since I have been doing two hymns each month instead of one,  I thought I would also do, "Great is thy Faithfulness" this month:

Cousins - Another Perspective

Cousins is an interesting topic of conversation in our house. My husband grew u p with two cousins. Two! Linda, below, and her brother Mark, whom I don't have a handy photo of.

His mother had one sister who married and had two children. His father had one sister who never married.

Hubby has difficulty understanding how someone could have cousins they don't know the names of. In my defense, the last time I saw this family was in 1970. One of the cousins hadn't even been born yet! So I've never met him, and the other three were ages seven and younger. I had a total of 12 cousins (with my brothers and sisters we were a group of 16 cousins).

   David, Rick and Brian

And all the cousins I don't have photos handy for Bob (brother to above three), Eddie and Kenny, Eric and Mark, and Uncle Larry's kids, Julie, Amy, Cheryl, and Michael.

To my husband that sounds like a lot. To me it does not. I mean, each of my grandmothers came from a family of 12 children! So my mom had... At least 33 cousins, with other aunts and uncles that may have had kids that I just haven't been able to track down yet on ancestry.com.  So, yeah, I don't feel like I have soo many cousins.

But maybe I do. I mean, my own kids only have 9 cousins...
Keri, Jenni and David (above, at Jenni's Wedding);

  Julie (left) and her brother Jared (below, with his dad, my husband's brother, Mike);

 

Crystal, on the left, and then one of Crystal at age 5 with her brother Joshua on right. Now one of Joshua as a grown up, with his daughter on his shoulders:

(The other two cousins' parents don't have the kids photos on their Facebook pages, so I'm certainly not going to post them here...)

 

So how many cousins do you have?

George Washington's Rules - #28

This week's Rule is Rule #28:

28th	If any one come to Speak to you while you are are Sitting Stand up though he be your Inferior, and when you Present Seats let it be to every one according to his Degree.

Which seems to mean - if someone comes to speak to you while you are sitting, stand up to speak to him (even if he is your inferior). And when you seat guests who are visiting you, seat them according to their level of importance.

This reflects the thinking of levels of aristocracy that was practiced in Great Britain before the American Revolution, since the colonies were at that time part of Great Britain. 

A Challenge For 2014

I am taking on a challenge that I've been considering. I've been reading about it for a couple of weeks now, and I don't know why I didn't "jump on the band wagon" before, but I'm sure I was preoccupied with my mother-in-law's death and other issues in my life. But I have decided to announce here my intention to begin this challenge. It has to do with decluttering.

 

Kathy Lipp's Blog is challenging us to The 2014 Things Challenge.

 

To be fair, I've already started this, so I am going to try to reconstruct what I've given away here at the beginning. I will probably not be able to figure out everything that we've gotten rid of, but here goes: 

1 - 40 -- Star Wars figurines, unopened in package, which my dad had given to me and we had put in the attic for almost a decade.

41 - 60 - Set of World Book Encyclopedias, with accompanying Year Books.

61 - 151 - Here's where I am guessing. I had hubby take three big copy-paper-boxes of books to the used book store. They probably had more than 30 books per box, but I'll just say 30 per box.

152 - a pair of dress shoes that I never wear;

153 - a pair of loafers that I never wear;

154 - a pair of other shoes that I never wear.

155 - 158 - a Science curriculum Teacher's Manual, student textbook, test book and answer key that I was done with.

This doesn't even count all the things I got rid of by throwing away files and files of old papers. I'll have to be diligent to try to pay attention to that type of thing as well to help me reach my 2014 goal. 

So, the difficult thing is that I am decluttering at a time when the (non-clutter that becomes clutter) items are pouring in from my mother-in-law. The big challenge is to get rid of more than I take in, significantly more. So 

So we'll say I've gotten rid of 158 things so far. I've probably gotten rid of a bag of things to a local charity that came to my door as well, but that might have been in December, so I'll leave it at that for now.

I'll try to pop in and give an update from time to time. Currently on the "chopping block", waiting to get out of my house are:

• a butcher block kitchen clock that we got in 1979 - still works, we're just tired of it;
• a "Butler's Table" coffee table that we've used in our family room for years but don't want any more.

Then it it back to the books again. I've got to pare down what I've got. I just have to!

Let me know if you decide to take on this challenge as well.

 

Week of 1/27/14 Menu Monday

This is another quick and dirty menu plan, created and shopped for during another busy weekend. Saturday (normal plan/shop day) I assisted all day at a Boy Scout Merit Badge day, so a quick plan made Friday night, and shopping with hubby after dinner Saturday. Here's the plan (including yesterday):

SUNDAY (1/26)

Brisket, mashed potatoes, leftover veggies

MONDAY (1/27)

Brisket sandwiches, green beans

TUESDAY (1/28)

Roast chicken, stuffing, broccoli

WEDNESDAY (1/29)

Hamburger/baked bean casserole, steamed carrots

THURSDAY (1/30)

Baked ziti, salad, garlic bread

FRIDAY (1/31)

Chicken tortilla soup, salad, rolls

SATURDAY (2/1)

Hearty hamburger tomato stew, muffins

  
The vegan has been eating meat. I don't want to know what this is doing to my BP and my cholesterol,  but when life is too busy I just can't always make vegan options. Sometimes I swing more towards vegetarian, but I'm not confident that it reduces my cholesterol sufficiently. I need to get back to making vegan-focus a priority, but when life gets "real", you still have to eat...

So, on the back burner for the vegan I have ingredients to make another batch of Minnesota Wild Rice Soup, vegan style, and I have in the fridge lentil soup and hummis for lunches. I like my home-made soups better than the store bought lentil soup mentioned, because I make my own soups with more vegetables than the store-bought contain. 

So, for Monday, brisket sandwiches are totally not vegan, and I'm eating that anyway. Tuesday I have a faux chicken patty I could serve myself, and would eat brown rice, not stuffing. Wednesday I have soy crumblies I will substitute for beef in part of the casserole (although my beans do have pork). Thursday I'll probably go with calling vegetarian "good enough", but if I were being strict I'd alter the Firehouse 2 diet recipe for Macaroni and Not Cheese. Friday I'll be trying to have my Minnesota Wild Rice Soup made for me when I serve the chicken tortilla to my other foodies. Saturday I might do the same soup.

Have a warm, hearty, food-filled week!

As Clean as a New Fallen Snow

So... I don't live on a farm or anything... I don't have any type of beautiful white field of snow to photograph, so I'll show what I've got -- a photo of my back deck.

 Doesn't that thick layer of snow look clean and pretty?

So for our nature study this week we tested the snow for purity. We started by collecting snow in a canning jar with a funnel.

When the snow stopped we brought the jar/funnel stack inside so the snow could melt. So at this point my son got excited about the experiment. He did the whole thing, showed me the results, and then dumped everything. And then I said, "Oh! I forgot to take pictures!" So I had to recreate everything. The results were easier to see the first time, but I think you'll still see well enough.

So full jar, funnel full of snow too, on the counter to melt.

Amazing how little water we got from all that snow! (See photo below.)

Next we poured the melt-water into a coffee filter to see how clean or dirty it was.

My son used to eat snow, in spite of my warnings. Now he says he won't ever eat snot again. Another thing we had noticed was not only how much dirt was caught in the photo, but also how dirty the filtered water still looked But I did forget to take a photo of that. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about our snow experiment! 



 

How Could This Happen Again???

What was I thinking? How could this happen? "What?" you might well ask. Well, I let another week of home school slip by with (it seems) very little getting done.

Bible:

• We started reading Luke. We didn't read every day, but we read on three days. If I could remember my percentages, I'd tell you what an increase it is to go from 0:5 to 3:5, but my brain isn't functioning. I think it is this cold weather. 1/22 - 4.6 degrees.

• Friday's plans (I'm writing this on Thursday) include 3rd reading from Luke and sinking of hymn(s).

Algebra I:

• This is where I was really, really thinking, "How could this happen again?" I let days go by (three, to be precise) where my son said, "I did my math!", and yet I didn't look at it. Only to find, late Wednesday, that his version of doing his math means that he skips the word problems because it would require too much of him to figure them out. As if I didn't know that he does that. Always. At least I found out on Wednesday. 
• So on Thursday we did the word problems from Wednesday, as well as doing the lesson for Thursday together. Sadly I have to confess that I could not actually DO the plotting on the graph of how the two perpendicular lines go on the graph (y=5/8x-3 and y=-8/5 + 4 or whatever, where they have negative reciprocals that are fractions. I don't get it.).

• So so far our important algebraic equations that I'm trying to get him to memorize are:

Slope = y₂- y_{1              and     y=mx+b}        

             _{----------------}

               x_2- x₁             

 and                   slope = amount of change / length of change (or rise/run) 

Science:

• JD watched extensive quantities of science videos and attempted to replicate them, mostly unsuccessfully. One was something to do with hydrogen peroxide, dawn and yeast; didn't work. Could be because the yeast was expired and the peroxide was old, or because JD didn't really have directions...
• Lots of birdwatching. We're doing the Feederwatch Project with Cornell Univ. 25 robins descended upon our tree on the worst day of our snow. They came right up to our window. Also saw lots of chickadee, titmouse, cardinals, woodpeckers, junkos, house finch and house sparrows. Crows and geese also nearby but not in our yard.

               

• Did a nature study experiment. Only managed to photograph part of it. Will probably redo it so I can blog it, which I was planning to do. Messed me up when I let my student take over. Homeschooling getting in the way of my blogging. Imagine!

Literature:

• 1001 Arabian Nights Entertainments. Continued our readings. Son is still enjoying this. What a pleasure that is for a change.
• 1984, by George Orwell - I was reading this out loud, but yesterday I was falling asleep during the readings. Today I asked Miner to read to himself, and that smart little kid went instead to Youtube and found where it is read out loud in video. Awesome!
• Men of Iron by Pyle.  Severely neglected this week. Need to get back to it.
• Loefwine the Monk - started this week. Liking it so far.

Writing:

• No new progress.

French:

• Began work using Mango languages program on line. So far so good! My best success so far this week.

History:

• Neglected, except that the literature readings reinforce history. In defense of my narfy attitude and neglect of some subjects this week, public school had a holiday on Monday and was closed for snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as opened two hours late on Thursday, so I did pretty well when I consider that I could have just followed their schedule.

 

 Music:

• Hymn planned for Friday.

Art:

• Neglected. Will try to do on Friday.

Phys Ed:

• Miner continued work on his his Personal Fitness merit badge in Boy Scouts.

Health:

• Will try to look at health on Friday on Zane.com.

Leisure:

Miner has been doing a lot of Minecraft. I have been decluttering and quilting. Also watched Atlas Shrugged while trying to keep warm. Here's the quilt I'm working on. My Mother-in-law made it. I'm finishing the hand quilting.

So that's how home school went at our house. How about yours? 

Arne Efraimson - 1915 - 1921

 

Today's "Think Back Thursday" is an excerpt from my grandmother Esther Holien's memoirs, "A Letter to My Friends and Family", which she wrote in 1998.

Esther was the oldest child of Alfred and Emma Efraimson. named Eina Esther at birth, born 1905 at a Minnesota iron mining town, Esther's family (Alfred, Emma, and little sister Jennie - born in 1907) moved from Minnesota to a farm in Perth, North Dakota where Alfred found work. Eventually that farm became the Efraimson's family farm. After the family relocation, Alfred and Emma welcomed:

• Eino, in 1908;
• Emma, in 1910;
• Jo (Josephine) in 1911;
• Hilda in 1913;
• Arne in 1915;
• Bill (William) in 1917;
• Vi (Viola) in 1918; and
• Carl, in 1920.

More children were born later, but I'm stopping where this story took place in time.  In 1921, Esther, the firstborn, was turning 16. She had completed the local grammar school studies when she was 13. I will let her memoirs tell you the rest of this story.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finished grade school at 13 and tried very hard to get a job working for room and board so I could go to high school. However, I didn’t look like I was more than ten years old and it took two more years before I grew enough so that anyone would believe I could do housework.

The idea was not that I liked housework. In fact, I hated it – that was the reason I was willing to do it – so I could learn, and be prepared for better jobs later on.

During the time I was home after grade school, a sad thing happened. My little brother, Arne, got sick with terrible stomach aches. By the time we got the doctor for him, his appendix had ruptured, and he was taken to the hospital in Devils Lake, about 70 miles from the farm. It was harvest time, and Mother and Dad could not stay with him. Someone had to, though, and I was elected. Of course, I was happy to do it.

The poison from the ruptured appendix had gone through his body, and penicillin and other wonder drugs had not been discovered yet. The Doctor could not contain the infection;; the incision would not heal, and evidently his bowels were blocked. We stayed there part of August and all of September – came home in early October.

Both of us were very homesick. I tried to keep Arne content by reading to him from magazines and books. Some of his favorites were Bible stories. He also liked to draw, so we did a lot of that. His favorite pictures were of foods because he was on such a bland, almost liquid diet.

Sometime after we returned home, in fact, it was Halloween, he had been too active and the incision opened wider. Dad got the Doctor and he operated on him at home, but they had to take him back to the hospital the next day. He did not survive the next operation.

 ==================================================================

For the longest time I knew that Gram had said she was one of 12 children, but whenever I researched her siblings I could only account for 11 of them.  I am so glad these notes survived. Worse than dying when he was so young would be for Arne to be forgotten completely. I am so happy to be able to share these notes with you. If anyone in my extended family has a photograph of Arne, please, please share it with the family. Maybe there was no photo ever taken of him. I've never seen any photo of any of the children from when they were children. It is possible that there weren't any taken of anyone until they were adults, I don't know. 

As always, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email, especially if you have any corrections or new information you can send my way.